Ballarat gold mine collapse: Desperate rescue underway as two people trapped underground in area where police searched for body of missing jogger Samantha Murphy
A desperate rescue mission is underway for two people trapped underground after a mine collapse.
Emergency services are responding to reports of two people trapped in the Ballarat gold mine at Mount Clear, Ballarat, after it collapsed around 4.50pm on Wednesday.
Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) and the Country Fire Authority have both sent “resources” to the scene, an FRV spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
Ambulance Victoria also sent paramedics and an air ambulance to the collapsed mine.
“The situation is developing and further information will be provided as it becomes available,” read a statement from Victoria Police.
Emergency services are desperately trying to rescue two people trapped underground after the gold mine at the Indicator Lane site in Ballarat (pictured) collapsed on Wednesday afternoon.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allen said she was “thinking of every worker and family affected by the event.”
“Tonight will be a long night for them and for the entire Ballarat community.”
The bushland surrounding the Ballarat Gold Mine has been extensively scoured by police and volunteers in the search for missing mother, Samantha Murphy.
The 51-year-old disappeared without a trace after leaving her home on Eureka Street in Ballarat East about 7am on February 4 for a run at Woowookrung Regional Park.
Mobile phone records show Ms Murphy arrived in Mount Clear about an hour later, where police allege she was murdered by 22-year-old Patrick Stephenson.
Police warned those involved in the search for Ms Murphy to be weary of the hundreds of abandoned mine shafts in the area, many of which have been left open.
Despite the massive search, the mother-of-three’s remains have yet to be located.
The network of mine shafts that make up the Ballarat Gold Mine has been operational since the 1850s, with some of the original shafts still in use.
The bushland around the mine was extensively combed by police and volunteers last month during the search for missing mother Samantha Murphy (photo)
A cave-in at the site trapped 27 miners about a kilometer underground at around 3:30 am on November 12, 2007.
All miners were recovered safely after being hoisted to the surface through a ventilation shaft at around 8am.
On Anzac Day the year before, Tasmanian miners Todd Russell and Brant Webb were trapped in a small cage 925 meters underground for two weeks after a rockfall at the Beaconsfield gold mine, northwest of Launceston.
While Mr. Russell and Mr. Webb triumphantly left the mine, their colleague Larry Knight had been killed in the initial collapse.
They were both able to join mourners at their colleague’s funeral – which had been postponed until they were released – on May 9.
More to come.